Human Nutrition Research Center on Aginghttp://hnrca.tufts.edu
Wed, 07 Dec 2016 14:42:41 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.5.2New sugar-sweetened beverages findingshttps://now.tufts.edu/news-releases/regular-intake-sugary-beverages-not-diet-soda-associated-prediabeteshttp://
Wed, 09 Nov 2016 19:36:17 +0000http://hnrca.tufts.edu/?p=9512Journal of Nutrition finds that regular intake of sugary beverages, but not diet soda, is associated with prediabetes.]]>New research published in the Journal of Nutrition finds that regular intake of sugary beverages, but not diet soda, is associated with prediabetes.
]]>Rethinking the glycemic indexhttp://now.tufts.edu/news-releases/high-variability-suggests-glycemic-index-unreliable-indicator-blood-sugar-response
Thu, 08 Sep 2016 14:16:09 +0000http://hnrca.tufts.edu/?p=9379Read more ]]>New findings from the Cardiovascular Nutrition Lab question the reliability of glycemic index values. Read more
]]>Eat less, live longerhttp://now.tufts.edu/news-releases/moderately-reducing-calories-non-obese-people-reduces-inflammation
Tue, 19 Jul 2016 15:40:37 +0000http://hnrca.tufts.edu/?p=9098Read more.]]>New research from HNRCA scientists finds moderately reducing calories in non-obese people reduces inflammation. Read more.
]]>HNRCA NL24: Good Food in the Fast Lanehttp://hnrca.tufts.edu/blog/2016/06/23/nl24/
Thu, 23 Jun 2016 18:30:15 +0000http://hnrca.tufts.edu/?p=9005 What ingredient is that? The answer is TIME. Generally speaking, cooking healthy requires conscious planning, preparation, and time! Finding creative and imaginative ways … » read ]]>Nutrition scientists are committed to practicing what they preach: to eat healthy. However, many of them don’t have one of the key ingredients usually required for preparing healthy food from scratch.

What ingredient is that? The answer is TIME. Generally speaking, cooking healthy requires conscious planning, preparation, and time! Finding creative and imaginative ways to pare down the time and reduce the effort can make healthy cooking a more feasible process in the midst of a heavy workload.

Here’s an example using leeks:
If you cook with leeks, you know that preparing them is the worst part of the job. They’re loaded with sand, so it seems to take forever to prepare them. A great tip for cooking with leeks is to prepare them a day or two before you actually plan to use them in a recipe. Cut leeks in half the long way and submerge stalks in a large bowl of cold water. Rinse well, flushing between the sections until no grit remains. Drain. Cut into half-moon sections at the desired width. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Here’s a second example using pasta:
Boiling pasta is not difficult but it is time-consuming. When you decide to cook pasta for a meal and only need part of the box for the recipe, cook the entire pound instead. Make sure to put a little olive oil in the boiling water and cook the pasta al dente. Strain the pasta well when done. Take the portion for the meal you are cooking. Continue to strain and cool the leftover pasta. After the leftover pasta is cooled, spoon into container using slotted spoon, seal and place in freezer. When you need a quick meal with pasta, take container out of the freezer. Put block of pasta into a glass or stainless steel bowl just big enough to hold the pasta and water to cover it. Heat a full teakettle with water till boiling. Pour over the pasta and presto, within a few minutes, your pasta is ready. Strain and use.

Inspired by this approach, some of our HNRCA scientists shared helpful tips for cooking nutritiously in a time-sensitive and creative manner. We are grateful that they took the time to contribute their ideas and recipes. We hope that you will learn something new to apply in your own kitchen and that this notion might stimulate some personal creativity of your own for making “fast (good) food.”

Lemon Hummus Dressing:
Ingredients: lemon hummus (extra lemon); tabouli mix, balsamic vinegar
Timesaving tip: Using fresh quality store-bought items to create recipe.
Recipe: Per portion, take 2 tablespoons hummus and 1 tablespoon of tabouli. Mix these well with 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar. This is delicious on salad veggies. To travel with this salad, pre-mix salad veggies and dressing in a sealed container. Shake container to remix all ingredients just before eating.
(Courtesy of Dr. Nicola McKeown)

Black Beans and Onions
Ingredients: 1 lb. bag dry black beans, 5 cloves garlic, extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), 2 large sweet onions
Timesaving tip: Following package guidelines, cook up the entire bag of beans ahead of time. Do this on a day you’re not cooking this dish since its minimum effort to babysit the beans. When done, cool them down and refrigerate in a sealed container.

Recipe: Chop onions. Carmelize about 15 minutes in EVOO. Add beans and enough bean liquid to make it a little soupy. Add 5 whole cloves garlic, peeled. Simmer on very low heat for an hour to infuse the flavors. Reserve bean juice and add it to pot as bean liquid reduces. Salt and cracked pepper, to taste. Use as a side dish, in a wrap with chopped veggies, on brown rice, as a base for soup or chile. Divide up and freeze portions to use in future meals. (Courtesy of Dr. Martin Obin)

Quick Vegetable Soup
Ingredients: vegetables (leftovers), garlic, oil (canola or soybean), large can chicken or vegetable broth
Timesaving tip: Using vegetable leftovers collected from other meals during the week.

Recipe: Sauté chopped onion in oil. Add minced garlic when onions are soft but not brown. Add broth when garlic cooked but not brown and bring to a boil. While broth is heating, chop vegetables roughly by type. Add vegetables into hot broth based on density/weight, the heaviest going into pot first. Ex: Root vegetables, then leafy, then fully cooked. As roots vegetables soften, add next less heavy vegetable, etc. Herbs can be added if desired. Simmer till ready to serve.

Variations: 1) in place of broth, use large tomato or vegetable juice if more compatible to vegetables such as a minestrone-style soup. 2) for a more substantial soup, add a can of (rinsed) beans and/or shredded cooked chicken (Courtesy of Dr. Alice H. Lichtenstein)

Put pot of water on range to boil. While pot is heating, cut fresh broccoli in small but varied sizes. Drop broccoli, pasta, and salt into boiling water. Cover. Cooking time may vary but it can generally take about 15 minutes. Prepare garlic as you prefer (large or small pieces, shaved, etc.). Put oil, garlic and paprika in a heat-resistant serving bowl and place on top of lid of pot to keep it warm. When done, strain pasta and broccoli in a fine sieve to retain small pieces of broccoli. Add this mixture to bowl with oil mix. Mix vigorously. The small pieces of broccoli will almost dissolved forming a kind of cream with the oil. Bigger pieces will remain whole for texture. *the amount of oil, garlic, and paprika used depends on the individual taste. (Courtesy of Dr. Angelo Azzi)

Quick and Easy Grilled Salmon
Ingredients: salmon filets, olive oil, salt, herbs of your choice
Timesaving tip: Buy at least 2 large fresh salmon filets and prepare meal size portions for convenient, quick use when desired. Cut the large filets into smaller portions weighing about 6 ounces. Wrap each filet in aluminum foil, place these into freezer bags and freeze.

Recipe: Preheat grill. Unwrap filets and place desired number of portions directly on heated grill. Salmon thaws almost instantly, gets wonderful char marks, and cooks fully in about 5-8 minutes. Flip filets once. Drizzle with olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and herbs.

]]>Preventing cancer through the guthttp://learningtimesevents.org/tufts/diet-the-gut-microbiome-and-cancer-prevention/?platform=hootsuite
Wed, 22 Jun 2016 19:12:42 +0000http://hnrca.tufts.edu/?p=8993Jimmy Crott, a scientist in our Vitamins and Carcinogenesis Lab.]]>Watch a Tufts webinar given by Jimmy Crott, a scientist in our Vitamins and Carcinogenesis Lab.
]]>Good news for bad kneeshttp://now.tufts.edu/articles/good-news-bad-knees
Wed, 04 May 2016 17:26:21 +0000http://hnrca.tufts.edu/?p=8869]]>Study shows that improving muscle power—rather than strength—helps alleviate pain for osteoarthritis sufferers
]]>What mothers (and fathers) eat can affect the lifetime health of their childrenhttp://sites.tufts.edu/nutrition/winter-2016/pass-it-on/
Fri, 15 Apr 2016 21:34:35 +0000http://hnrca.tufts.edu/?p=8862]]>What some HNRCA researchers have to say about the new concept of paternal influence in health
]]>The updated MyPlate for Older Adultshttp://hnrca.tufts.edu/myplate
Mon, 07 Mar 2016 16:11:56 +0000http://hnrca.tufts.edu/?p=88212015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

]]>The updated icon emphasizes the nutritional needs of older adults in a framework of the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
]]>Zinc levels can be improved in nursing home patients with supplementationhttp://now.tufts.edu/news-releases/study-shows-zinc-supplement-boosted-serum-zinc-levels-and-immunity-older-adults?utm_source=Tufts+Now+-+Faculty+and+Staff&utm_campaign=360625318d-Tufts_Now_internal_160203&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_e2c82ed1e3-360625318d-207389885
Wed, 03 Feb 2016 15:23:26 +0000http://hnrca.tufts.edu/?p=8764]]>This new research could have a significant impact on reducing the incidence of and morbidity from infection, which is a major public health problem in older adults.
]]>A special lecture eventhttps://vimeo.com/151951489
Wed, 20 Jan 2016 16:18:07 +0000http://hnrca.tufts.edu/?p=8748presentations and panel discussion that followed.]]>Not able to attend last month’s inaugural Drs. Joan and Peter Cohn and Family Lecture on Nutrition, Inflammation, and Chronic Disease? Watch the recording of the impressive presentations and panel discussion that followed.
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